CURRENT FOCUS

In its quest to maintain transparency and institutional integrity in the appointment of key functionaries in sensitive organisations, Common Cause filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of Shri Rakesh Asthana as the Special Director (SD) CBI. The matter was dismissed by the Supreme Court on November 28, 2017.

The petition stated that CBI investigates many sensitive cases involving powerful and influential individuals as well as important cases of corruption and violation of human rights, hence the appointment of Special Director, the second highest authority in the organization, should be in strict compliance with all the norms laid down by the Supreme Court in the past. The petition also alleged that the Government and the selection committee overruled the opinion of the Director, CBI in violation of the law on the purport statutory consultation.

The petition prayed for quashing or setting aside the appointment of the Special Director, seeking directions to the Union of India to transfer him out of the CBI during the pendency of the investigation concerning the payouts to various public servants by Sterling Biotech and Sandesara Group. The petition also sought directions to the parties concerned to produce before the Court the agenda and the minutes of the selection committee meeting under Section 4C of the DSPE Act, 1946, as well as the note and material put up by the CBI Director regarding the proposed appointment of the Special Director."

The petition was heard by a bench comprising Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice Manohar Sapre. Supreme Court dismissed the petition on November 28, 2017.